A dog paid a visit to the Austin, Texas, set of director Terrence Malick's new film, and all we could think was, That lucky bitch.

Leave it to Ryan Gosling to smile at a passing pooch and stir up all kinds of feelings: jealousy, spitefulness, despair.

The actor, along with costar Rooney Mara, is currently spending long days on set for the untitled picture, and seemed to relax momentarily on Wednesday when a crew member brought over the dog between takes.

This year's race for Best Actress is a nail-biter, with some of Hollywood's most accomplished stars vying for the golden statuette.

Meryl Streep, who won the Golden Globe for her spot-on performance as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, could be seen as a frontrunner. After all, with 17 previous Oscar nominations and two wins, Streep is Hollywood royalty.

But she's by no means a shoo-in. Street's pal, Viola Davis, won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for best actress for her role in the wildly popular film The Help, and will be giving Streep a run for her money.

Pop quiz: What annual awards show airs this Sunday night? If you're as into the Oscars as we are, you likely just yawned and said, "Easiest. Question. Ever." And you'd be right.

Now, let's try a few more challenging questions. Which of the current crop of Best Actress hopefuls honeymooned at George Clooney's Italian villa? The Help's Jessica Chastain earned a scholarship to Julliard funded by which Oscar-winning comedian? War Horse composer John Williams's son sang for which classic rock band?

Nominations are out for the 84th Academy Awards. Here is PEOPLE Magazine critic Alynda Wheat's take on what went down at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Hugo?! Fine, Hugo.Leading the pack with 11 nominations is Martin Scorsese's kids movie that's not actually for kids. I confess that I still don't get it. Technically, Hugo is a triumph (you'll notice that the vast majority of its nominations are for technical awards), and Scorsese's nod for Best Director is certainly justified. But as a movie-going experience I still think it's remarkably cold (lectures about film history don't really move me). For my money, it's still a race between the French silent film The Artist and The Descendants, starring George Clooney, who did get nominated and Shailene Woodley, who missed the cut. Which brings me to my next point:

Snubs? What snubs?Okay, sure, Golden Globe nominee Woodley might be a tad disappointed, as might Albert Brooks (Drive), Michael Fassbender (Shame), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) and even Steven Spielberg, whose amazing animated The Adventures of Tintin didn't rate a Best Animated Film nod, and who wasn't on the Best Directors list, in spite of the fact that his War Horse is a Best Picture nominee. But are these omissions actually snubs? Not really.

Actress Rooney Mara, best known for her Golden-Globe nominated, man-hating, butt-kicking character Lisbeth Salander, has been spotted out and about with a tall, brooding redhead: her beau Charlie McDowell.

The two, who have been an item since at least 2010 – when they were photographed kissing – were hand-in-hand in Manhattan last week, wearing matching beanies while out shopping. That weekend they jetted from JFK to LAX, just ahead of Mara's turn on the red carpet.

An embarrassment of dishes: The nominees of this year's Golden Globes have three courses of deliciousity to feast upon, thanks to the Beverly Hilton's executive hotel chef, Suki Sugiura, and executive pastry chef Thomas Henzi.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is about power – who has it and who doesn't, but mainly how quickly it shifts.

Take a scene in the film's first hour: Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) is on a subway platform bothering no one when a foolish stranger snatches her backpack. Soon, she's capably retrieved her pack – and beaten the thief so savagely that passersby see her as the heinous one. In an instant she's gone from victim to victor to victimizer. And she's just getting started.

What may be most shocking about director David Fincher's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's international bestseller is that it's shocking at all. After all, the book had such broad appeal that for at least a year you couldn't get on a plane, train or bus without seeing it clutched in someone's hands.

They certainly present a contrast, but sisters Rooney and Kate Mara are both soaking up the spotlight these days.

Brunette Rooney is currently promoting her much-anticipated film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which hits theaters Dec. 21, while auburn-haired Kate has created buzz with her role in the popular FX show American Horror Story.

Rooney, 26 and Kate, 28, were photographed Tuesday at the afterparty for the New York Premiere of Dragon Tattoo. Rooney, dressed in black, has just a tinge left of the extreme makeover she underwent to play the role of wiry, moody hacker Lisbeth Salander.